Flood of suggestions to change supreme court's collegium system

Govt keeps option of new law open and seeks to broaden appointment process

GN Bureau | November 18, 2015


#Flood   #supreme court   #National Judicial Appointments Commission   #NJAC   #National Lawyers   #National Lawyers   #Judicial   #judges  

The supreme court has begun hearing on the suggestions of the people from all walks of society as to how the transparency and accountability can be improved in the collegium system while the law ministry's website has been flooded with suggestions on improving the collegium system of judges appointing judges in higher judiciary. Almost 3,500 representations have been posted on the website.

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the court that 3,500 representations have come in pursuance to the notice on the ministry's website soliciting inputs on improving the revived collegium system.

The court had in a 4:1 decision struck down the government's move to create a National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) with part representation from the government and civil society to replace the collegium system of judges selecting judges. While the court said the NJAC would hurt judicial independence which was a part of the basic structure of the Constitution, it sought suggestions to make the collegium process more transparent and accountable.

Interestingly, the government has suggested that the president, prime minister and attorney general should have the power to suggest names to the collegium for appointment as judges to the top court as a way of improving the system's functioning.  The government suggested that the process could be broadbased by seeking names from the governor, chief minister and the state advocate general in case of appointments to a high court.

Under the existing collegium system, only the judges who are part of the collegium (the Chief Justice of India and four other senior judges in SC, and four judges including the state chief justice at high courts) can suggest names.

Importantly, the government has also kept its option open on bringing in a law to give the executive a say over the entire process.

The Modi government's suggestion to the court has come by way of the AG's submissions in the case, which would come up again for hearing on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the National Lawyers' Campaign For Judicial Transparency And Reforms has said that the time for the public to submit their suggestions and representations be extended as the time given by the apex court was very short.

Comments

 

Other News

Climate actions being implemented to deal with impact of heat waves

India’s climate actions cut across various sectors and are being implemented through various programs and schemes of different union ministries, departments and state/ union territory governments.  The government of India through concerned ministries and departments organises workshops, exhibiti

Banks must hear borrowers before declaring their accounts as frauds: SC

In a judgment with far-reaching implications, the Supreme Court has held that the civil consequences of an account being declared as fraud under the Reserve Bank of India (Frauds Classification and Reporting by Commercial Banks and Select FIs) Directions, 2016 or its Master Directions on Fraud amount to ci

India’s forest cover increases by 5,516 sq km in four years

The Dehradun-based Forest Survey of India (FSI), an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, carries out the assessment of forest cover biennially since 1987 and the findings are published in the India State of Forest Report (ISFR). As per the latest ISFR 2021, there is a

Steps taken to meet higher power demand of April-May

While the average growth of energy requirement in the country for 2023-24 viz-a-viz 2022-23 has been estimated as 4.9%, the months of April and May have been projected as high demand period. During the current year, the peak demand is expected to be around 229 GW during the summer period. The government ha

Millets to make comeback in army ration after half a century

As the UN has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, the Indian Army has steered introduction of millets flour in the rations of soldiers. This landmark decision will ensure troops are supplied with native and traditional grains after over half a century, when these were discontinued in favour

Central Bank Digital Currency has game-changing potential

When discussing digital currency, you might think of one or two well-known varieties. There is the digital representation of currency that you access with mobile and online banking services. This currency is the liability of a commercial bank. There is also cryptocurrency, a digital medium of exchange issu

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook    Twitter    Google Plus    Linkedin    Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter